Search - Hetty Wainthropp Investigates - The Complete Second Season on DVD

She investigates

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 11/01/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Patricia Routledge shines in this light mystery series, about a kindly ex-housewife who decides she's going to tackle crime. Think Miss Marple, but stouter, more practical, and married. With Derek Benfield and Dominic Monaghan (in his first ever role, long before he got "Lost") backing Routledge up, "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates" is a entertaining and unusual series for mystery buffs.

The second season of this series chugs along pleasantly, with Hetty investigating a new round of mysteries: a spiritualist who may be scammng people, an old lady suspected of poison pen letters, and some undercover work in a women's shelter. And Geoffrey runs into a problem when his romance with a suspect's daughter threatens to derail his place at the agency.

After the successful first season of "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates," its makers thankfully didn't get swelled heads. Instead, they stuck to what worked: good chemistry between the lead actors, small-scale stories that (usually) don't focus on murder, and a heroine who isn't about to retire just because of her age. It is a very fun series -- just don't take it too deadly seriously.

Unlike your average detective show, the stories are light and sweet, and dosed with lots of coincidence and more-than-average doses of humor, such as poor Geoffrey wailing as he's dangled over a drop: "Please don't! I may not bounce!" It does have a high level of coincidence, which makes it sometimes hard to believe that the mysteries are solvable.

The the second season has the same slow-paced, cozy feel. But it can turn dark quite quickly. All the same, the small, personal level of the mysteries is a pleasant change from national scheming and massive heists; these are very realistic ordinary people, with very plausible problems, and Hetty seems like a good detective to take them on.

Routledge (best known as the infuriating Hyacinth Bucket) gives a good performance as Hetty, who can be a hard-knuckled sleuth one minute and a grandmotherly sweetie the next. Dominic Monaghan gives an even more solid performance as the teenage sidekick Geoffrey, a studied antidote to WB dolls, and is backed up by Derek Benfield as Hetty's likable husband Robert.

Perfect for curling up on a rainy day, under a blanket with a cup of something hot. The second season of "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates" makes up for its lack of mysterious prowess by being so enchantingly down-to-earth and cozy."

Gotta love Hetty.....

Dianne Foster | USA | 10/13/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"HETTY WAINTHROP - Series 2 features the talents of Patricia Routledge playing a woman billed as `The BBC's most unlikely sleuth." Yet, watching these episodes again, I realized Hetty fills a void or market niche for sleuths, making her not all that unlikely. The kinds of cases she investigates (mostly domestic) would have been dismissed by Holmes, and considered an unworthy challenge by Poirot, but with Miss Marple out of the picture, someone has to do them. On almost every occasion, the DCI, when asked, tells Hetty, the police can not help the victim or potential victim until a crime has been committed. Thus, many of the cases involve unpleasant experiences that are not necessarily criminal...YET.

Who would you turn to if someone was sullying your name with poison pen letters? Miss Marple handled a case involving poison pen letters, and other detectives like Barnaby have handled similar problems, but usually, the letter is a blackmail letter and the person involved becomes a murder victim. The letter(s) is usually typed on a typewriter with a funny key.(Computer software can be traced too, as we discovered in last year's presidential election campaign). Hetty doesn't handle murder cases. Or does she? How did the young woman staying at a shelter end up dead when her husband found her? And, who revealed her whereabouts? How can Hetty. having been named woman of the year, show up at the dinner honoring her, and explain the bruises dished out by her perhaps not so affectionate husband Robert?

Whether the client is the intended victim of a `Rose by another name', the father of a runaway teenager, or the daughter of a woman entranced by a medium, Hetty and her sidekick Jeffrey, to say nothing of husband Robert, and brother-in-law Frank, will solve the case.

These mysteries are not complex, they are cosy. I love Hetty and I wish PBS would air all the episodes the BBC made."

Simply wonderful

fanDOM | nj | 09/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you enjoy a good mystery, you'll love Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. I fell in love with this series the very first time I saw it. Patricia Routledge (Keep Up Appearances) shines as Hetty. Along with Dominic Monaghan (Lord of the Rings, LOST), who plays her cheeky sidekick, you just can't go wrong. This show has it all, mystery, drama, suspense, and humor. I highly recommend purchasing this dvd, along with the season one set as well."

Some of the most fascinating "who done it" mysteries ever to

Midwest Book Review | Oregon, WI USA | 10/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hetty Wainthrop is the most interesting and unusual British female detective since Agatha Christy's Jane Marple. This middle-aged private investigator (played to perfection by Patricia Routledge) assisted by her semi-retired husband and teenage apprentice PI solve some of the most fascinating "who done it" mysteries ever to be produced by the BBC. Hetty Wainthropp Investigates is the complete second season of this highly popular detective series in a DVD boxed set that includes two episodes not seen on by American audiences on the PBS Mystery! broadcasts. This 3-disc collection has a total running time of 296 minutes and is ideal for anyone Hetty Wainthropp mystery fan who might have missed any of the second season shows -- not to mention those two not-broadcast- here before episodes!
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